It was like old times in west Belfast yesterday, as republicans fired a volley of shots over the coffin covered with an Irish tricolour. Except that this time the funeral was for a Real IRA man, and his killers were fellow republicans in the mainstream Provisional IRA.

Only 300 came to send off Joe O'Connor, 26, from his mother's house in Ballymurphy, west Belfast - a fraction of the usual turn-out at such events. He had just left her home on Friday when he was shot five times in the head.

Those there for his cortege included former leading lights in the IRA: Maria Price, convicted of bombing the Old Bailey in 1973; and ex-Belfast commander Brendan Hughes, a one-time associate of Gerry Adams. Also there was Francie Mackey, the Omagh councillor and chairman of the 32-county Sovereignty Movement, allied to the Real IRA.

The republican split came over the Good Friday agreement, with the Real IRA, responsible for the Omagh bomb which killed 29 in August 1998, implacably opposed.

Fresh graffiti around the estate derided the "Ra" in the crudest of terms, while Ms Price made scathing comments during the graveside oration, describing the mainstream group as the armed militia of the British state. At least one leading dissident was threatened on Tuesday by Provisional volunteers.

There are fears that the murder, which may have been a row over the proceeds of smuggled cigarettes, will lead to more and more violence. O'Connor was also said to have goaded several Provisional figures. The Provisional IRA leadership yesterday denied it was responsible for the murder. But the identities of the two hooded gunmen believed to be responsible are well-known, and both belong to that organisation. The theory is that the killing was not a sanctioned operation.

The IRA said: "The malicious accusations suggesting IRA involvement are designed to heighten tensions and promote the agenda of those opposed to the current IRA strategy." It said the Real IRA's threat to retaliate was exacerbating the situation.